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CNN Live Today

Interview With Laura Begley

Aired November 25, 2003 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Pack your gifts and spend the holiday season on the road. This month "Travel and Leisure" magazine is looking for a few destinations to make merry. Laura Begley is an editor wit the magazine. She's joins us from New York for our "getaway" segment. Hi, Laura. Thanks for being here. Happy holidays.
LAURA BEGLEY, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": Hi. Great to be here. Happy holidays to you.

You have picked out some really neat places, a couple of them a little surprising to me. But let's start at the top. Boy, these pictures from Switzerland are amazing.

BEGLEY: Well Arosa, Switzerland is the big talk right now. Usually skiing is no laughing matter, but Arosa hosts a huge winter humor festival and comedians from around the world gather at the base of the mountains to crack jokes.

COLLINS: All right.

BEGLEY: It's really fun.

COLLINS: Lots of beautiful lights and everything as well.

The other one probably also involves some skiing. Durango, Colorado. Great place.

BEGLEY: It's a fabulous alternative to the glitzier ski resorts in Colorado like Aspen. It's an old Western town. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ski there means drinking hot toddies at a Western is saloon. There's also fabulous white powder. About 300 days of sunshine a year.

COLLINS: They really get the snow there.

Moving on to a place I wouldn't think of snow, maybe fog, Venice.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGLEY: Venice, to me, the best time of year is in the winter. The crowds really clear out. It's a little foggy overcast but really romantic. You really get the city to yourself. One of the best things to do there is go to midnight mass at the Basillica de San Marco.

COLLINS: I bet that is beautiful.

What about Las Vegas? People usually go to see the lights. But for the holidays?

BEGLEY: Las Vegas does it up for the holidays. There are lights everywhere. Hotels all go crazy. One of the best parts of Vegas is that it doesn't shut down on Christmas like most places do. If you haven't gone shopping you can shop right to the last minute on the 25th.

COLLINS: All right. That's a good idea.

The last ones you got Honduras, Palm Springs, Madrid and Washington, D.C. Of those, which is your favorite?

BEGLEY: My favorite is Honduras. It's an undiscovered Caribbean destination. It's about one-third of the cost of other Caribbean destinations. You can go hiking in the rain forest. You can stay at the lodge at Pico Bonito which has its own butterfly farm. Just a great spot for the holidays.

COLLINS: That would certainly be something that a lot of people haven't seen indeed.

And Washington, D.C., obviously lot of people going there, the history behind it is always something that's interesting.

BEGLEY: And Washington, D.C., Like Vegas, really does it up with tons of lights all over the city. One hotel, the Hotel Rouge, does a great winter thing where they take you on a Hummer drive around the city, so you can see all of the lights.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: So the criteria for your list would mainly be, is it the lights and scenery or family friendly? What was the No. 1 thing that you looked at?

BEGLEY: It's all of the above. Pick a place that has a good value and a place that really does Christmas in an interesting way.

COLLINS: Again, happy holidays to you. Thank you. Laura Begley, "Travel and Leisure" magazine.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 25, 2003 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Pack your gifts and spend the holiday season on the road. This month "Travel and Leisure" magazine is looking for a few destinations to make merry. Laura Begley is an editor wit the magazine. She's joins us from New York for our "getaway" segment. Hi, Laura. Thanks for being here. Happy holidays.
LAURA BEGLEY, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": Hi. Great to be here. Happy holidays to you.

You have picked out some really neat places, a couple of them a little surprising to me. But let's start at the top. Boy, these pictures from Switzerland are amazing.

BEGLEY: Well Arosa, Switzerland is the big talk right now. Usually skiing is no laughing matter, but Arosa hosts a huge winter humor festival and comedians from around the world gather at the base of the mountains to crack jokes.

COLLINS: All right.

BEGLEY: It's really fun.

COLLINS: Lots of beautiful lights and everything as well.

The other one probably also involves some skiing. Durango, Colorado. Great place.

BEGLEY: It's a fabulous alternative to the glitzier ski resorts in Colorado like Aspen. It's an old Western town. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ski there means drinking hot toddies at a Western is saloon. There's also fabulous white powder. About 300 days of sunshine a year.

COLLINS: They really get the snow there.

Moving on to a place I wouldn't think of snow, maybe fog, Venice.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGLEY: Venice, to me, the best time of year is in the winter. The crowds really clear out. It's a little foggy overcast but really romantic. You really get the city to yourself. One of the best things to do there is go to midnight mass at the Basillica de San Marco.

COLLINS: I bet that is beautiful.

What about Las Vegas? People usually go to see the lights. But for the holidays?

BEGLEY: Las Vegas does it up for the holidays. There are lights everywhere. Hotels all go crazy. One of the best parts of Vegas is that it doesn't shut down on Christmas like most places do. If you haven't gone shopping you can shop right to the last minute on the 25th.

COLLINS: All right. That's a good idea.

The last ones you got Honduras, Palm Springs, Madrid and Washington, D.C. Of those, which is your favorite?

BEGLEY: My favorite is Honduras. It's an undiscovered Caribbean destination. It's about one-third of the cost of other Caribbean destinations. You can go hiking in the rain forest. You can stay at the lodge at Pico Bonito which has its own butterfly farm. Just a great spot for the holidays.

COLLINS: That would certainly be something that a lot of people haven't seen indeed.

And Washington, D.C., obviously lot of people going there, the history behind it is always something that's interesting.

BEGLEY: And Washington, D.C., Like Vegas, really does it up with tons of lights all over the city. One hotel, the Hotel Rouge, does a great winter thing where they take you on a Hummer drive around the city, so you can see all of the lights.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: So the criteria for your list would mainly be, is it the lights and scenery or family friendly? What was the No. 1 thing that you looked at?

BEGLEY: It's all of the above. Pick a place that has a good value and a place that really does Christmas in an interesting way.

COLLINS: Again, happy holidays to you. Thank you. Laura Begley, "Travel and Leisure" magazine.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com